The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1887-12-21
HOUSES WITHOUT FENCES.
Some of tho Bad Results OF rencolessncss
Homo Privacy.

Homo Privacy.
There is a growing fashion of building
houses without fences, and wo even sea
fences removed from houses already pro.
vidcd with them. Probably economy i,
at the bottom Of tho fashion, hut there
aro also many peopio who admire it.
How pretty @ street looks without
fences" they say. at IL like q park"
Perhaps it is. but 10 ANY of US want TO
live i'll a parkp
Having once had a house IN ope uf
these fcnoelcss communities, l would like
to describe some Of the pecUliari;ies Of
the system. The principal tronblc was
about children. It was impoSsiblo TO turn
them out with any eafcty 10 play in their
own yard, unless they he'd Il nurse in
constant attendance. Most children can
be taught TO l,ay IN n yard which las "a
fence and gate, but Few are 20 oladIcnt
az to remain Gn ground which hao no
boundary but a line VI turf. The conse-
Gucucc was that in our G~cighGurhoOd the
middle Of the street was the f~avoritc play
ground Cor children Of ell ages, the very
little ones taking an especial delight, like
hens, in tho depth Of the dust, and also,
of course, frequently running away. The
idea of holnc seemed TO have bu, half its
meaning to these children, and the fact
thai "a mans house is his castle" and
that no one has u right TO trespass Ola
other peoples grounds, was never guessed
at by most of the members of cur rising
generation. L have watched the children
coming home from school, and have
noticed that every child made u bee line
for home without the slightest reference
to private grounds, which they crossed
at every angle which was mort convcni-
ent. | even saw ono boy climb up ard
look into Il window Of n house. ne was
passing.
Not only children, however, but grown
people passed back and fcrth over zach
others grounds, ~ a matter of course,
gong between q G~entlcman's house and
ths outhouscS, and passing close to the
windows, or TO people sitting out on Inc
lar.l.
"a With human beings, so with dogs.
In"E spent most of their time in their
ncighbors yards or on their p~iazzas,
where they would eometimes prevent
callers from ringing the door bell. There
was one lady who WAS actually unable
sometimes 10 40 out upon her " piazza
because the immense dog of Il quite dis
tant nrighhor had Il fancy fer lying there,
and il she appeared, would threaten and
g"owl at her. AS to dogs rolling and
wrestling with each other in the flower
beds, ana turning up unexpectedly III
tho cellar, Kat was quite 4 matter of
COurIc.
Then thcro were COWS. To DO sure
they wero not allowed to go loosc, but
every now ard thea ono would pull UP
h stake 10 which sho was tied, so that
twice | found footprints, which looked
large enough for those of II mastodon, all
made lawn. Then one day l happened
to glance out Of one Of my chamber win
dows, and discovered n very largo bull
foraging directly below it, with q herd OF
attendant cows. They had all broken out
CT their pasture. The same thing hap
penod occasionally with hoy0es. | ooc9
cSunteA Kins, al p&Ssins sp the street,
with nothing between them and the
playing children and neatly kept flower
bcd8. Such iuconvcnirnces as theso do
not seem to bc balanced b. the supposed
beauty OF tic fcEcclrss system
In Europe the feeling tl0t the first es-
genital OF n refined home il privacy is
carried rather too far, for the high wslls
with which genticmCn's houses are 80
often surrounded arc y sad drawback TO
h beauty Of the coHntry III general; but
l believe that thc principle IS a right one.
a house which stands ~ it were In tho
strcet. which ID not separated either by @
hedge or fence from tho public thorough
fare, 10 wanting, Ii NY opinion, in ono Of
tac most important clcmanta OF a true
home. Boston Transcript.